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UCLA tops USC for Pac-12 tennis title in 4-2 match

OJAI, Calif. - The No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins topped the No. 5 USC Trojans by a score of 4-2 to claim the 2013 Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Championship in front of a standing-room only crowd at Libbey Park Saturday. The Bruins earned their first men’s team tournament title with the team championship format in its second year.

The USC Trojans started the match claiming the doubles point earning wins on courts three and one. Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson claimed the first match by a score of 8-6 over the Bruins' duo of Clay Thompson and Dennis Mkrtchian. The doubles point was claimed quickly as the 40th-ranked pair of Yannick Hanfmann and Ray Sarmiento upset No. 34 duo Marcos Giron and Dennis Novikov again 8-6.

Moving into singles matches, play was kept close with points going back and forth between both players on all six courts. The number two court was the first to finish, with USC earning its second point as No. 65 Hanfmann topped No. 18 Giron, 6-4, 6-1. The Bruins were quick to come back with Karue Sell topping No. 94 Michael Grant 6-3, 6-1, earning their first point to tally the match at 2-1, Trojans. Evening the score for UCLA was No. 24 Adrien Puget claiming his win in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) over No. 34 Roberto Quiroz. Taking the lead for the first time of the night in the fourth singles match to finish was No. 74 Mkrtchian over USC’s No. 80 Johnson 7-6, 6-4. Clinching the match was No. 116 Clay Thompson as he tallied scores of 7-6, 6-4 over Trojan and 93rd-ranked Jonny Wang. The match between No. 17 Sarmiento of USC and No. 25 Novikov of UCLA was abandoned.